Improvement in paper-feeding machines



- 2 Sheets--Sheet1 S. SGHOLFIELD 81. G. E. BAKER.

Paper Feeding-Machines.

Patented Feb. 4,1873.

Jaye/liar.

S, SQHOLH & c. E- AKE%'Sheets--Sheet2\ Paper Feeding-Machines.

Patented Feb. 4,1873.

AM pnoro-umusRAFn/c c0. MK (assomslv P ocess) UNITED S'ra'rns PATE TCFFICE.

SOORATES scnoLr1ELD,oF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND, AND CHARLES E.

BAKER, OF MONT CLAIR, NEW JERSEY.

IMPROVEMENT IN PAPER-FEEDING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 135,598, dated February4, 1873.

lowing is a specification:

The nature of our invention consists in an improved device for properlysecuring the uniform separation of the top sheet of a pile of paper fromthe sheet immediately below it, so that one sheet, and only one, can bedrawn at a time. It also consists in devices arranged to operate withthe moving sheet of paper in such a manner that, upon its passage to therotating gripers of the cylinder, it may be carried beyond the properpoint of register, to be returned thereto by a backward action. It alsoconsists in a device for adjusting the sheet of paper from the side, theprimary movement of which shall operate to raise the edge of the sheet,the extreme limit of the continued movement being also used to definethe proper point of register in that direction. It also consists incertain indicating devices to be used with a stop-motion, in order tocontrol the action of the machine when the paper is not properlypresented to the gripers. It also consists in an improved fly, arrangedto rock slightly upon bearings or hinged joints, so as to strike fairupon the top of the increasing pile of paper.

Figure l is a side View of a revolving-cylinder printing-press with ourfeeding apparatus attached. Fig. 2 is a top view of the same. Fig. 3 isa side view of the indicating-lever of the SiZOIJ lHOiZlOH. Fig. 4c is asimilar view,

showing its position when indicating the presence of two or more sheets.Fig. 5 is a front view of the pressure-finger which serves to hold backthe lower sheet. Fig.6 is a view of the fly, showing its position whendepositing the sheet of paper upon the fly-board. Fig. 7 shows asectional view of the guide which places the paper in register sidewise.Figs. 8 and!) are a side and end view of a magnetio indicating-lever forthestop-motion.

A is the frameof the press; B, the revolving cylinder; 0,- thefeed-boarchbalanced upon the shaft 1), and held in an inclined positionby means of the weight E, made adjust? able on the rod F, which is keyedto the shaft D. The pawl-lever G operates in combination with thenotched bar H to hold the feed-board firmly in its assumed positions,and continual- 'ly follows it up as the paper is withdrawn. I

l are two adjustable guides for-placing the papercorrectly upon theboard. Thepressurefinger a rests at one end upon the top sheet of paper,and is to be firmly held by means of the roller 1) and gripers c and d,the jaws of which are connected to the weight'edrockin g lever e bymeans of the chains or cords f and g, the whole being attached to therod t, turning on the bearings s 8. hen the weight h on the lever 0 israised, the closed griper cl is thrown open, and the open griper 0 atthe same time closed upon the finger, the chains or cords and g beingmade of such length that one of the gripers will become entirely closedupon the finger before the other hascommeuced to open. Connection ismade from the arm'i to the lever J by means of the chain or cord j. Theouter end of the lever J is bent as shown, and engages with the spur 7cupon one of the arms of the revolving cylinder B. K K are two cranksplaced at opposite ends of the cylinder-shaft. The carriage L moves backand forth in the slotted guides M M, and is oper- .ated by means of theforked levers NN, which are connected to the cranks K K by the links 0O. The friction-pads P P are hinged upon the arms Q Q attached to theshaft R, which turns loosely in the bearings S S. The pads P P areraised from the paper by means of the dog T which strikes against thestop U, and are then held in an elevated position by the spring-catch V,which is to be raised out of catch by striking the guide W, thusallowing the pads to drop upon the sheet of paper to.

be moved. The spurs X X strike against the springs Y Y, forcing themback, in order that they may react upon the forward edge of the paperand place in correct register. The guide Z, which may be held back by aspring placed upon the rod L, is forced up against the edge of thepaperby means v of thevertical sliding pin m", which rises up theincline a, and, by dropping behind the incline 0, operates uponthe'jreturn of the carriage to 'cause theguide to be thrown forward,carrying the paper into correct register. The belt-shipper p isconnected by the link q to the vibrating lever i, which receives itsmotion from. the lever N through the link 5. The upper end of the lever1' is bent at right angles for a short distance, and strikes against theouter end of the lever t, when in the position shown in Figs. 1 and 2,thus causing the shipper to be moved from the tight to the loose pulley,but which passes over it without moving the shipper, when in theposition shown in Fig. 3, the difference in elevation being caused bythe interposition of a sheet of paper, a, which prevents the pin '0 fromdropping into the hole w. The lever 25 is supported by the arm a", andmay be raisedto allow the paper to pass under the pin 1) by means of theinclined lifter or cam 3 attached to the carriage L. The spur Z attachedto the pin V of the lever t is used to indicate the presence of two ormore sheets by means of their additional resistance to puncture, thelever in this case assuming the position indicated in Fig. 4, its outerend engaging with the spur r of the vibrating lever r to stop themachine. The vibrating lever stop-motion above described was patented bySocrates Scholfield, in Patent No. 77,923, dated May 12, 1868, beingtherein fully described and claimed. We therefore make no claim to i Vsuch vibrating stop-motion in its general application, but only incombination with the operative mechanism of a self-feeding printing-press. The fly a is supported by the arms Nb attached to the shaft 0,and is made capable of a slight rocking motion upon the bearings d d.The spring 6 throws the upper side of the fly forward until its lowerside strikes the pin f, which constitutes its normal position, but whenthe fly is thrown over, as represented in Fig. 6, the spring e will beforced back, allowing the fly to adjust itself squarely upon the pile ofpaper, being free to again assume its normal position as soon as raisedtherefrom. The fiy-boar'd g is so inclined that the paper depositedthereon will slide against the back piece or gage h as soon as the fly ais raised from the board.

In setting the press in operation the pile of paper is first to bedeposited upon the feedboard 0 against the guides I and I, the guide Ibeing so set as to throw the pile beyondthe proper line of register.After placing the paper the pawl-lever G is to be thrown back in orderto allow the feed-board to settle to its appropriate level. Then as thepaper is being withdrawn from the pile the feed-board will graduallyrise, the pawl-lever G taking up and holding such movement, so that theboard may always present a fixed resistance to downward pressure, yetperfectly free to move upward as the load becomes lighter. As the cranksK K commence to turn the carriage L will be thrown back far enough toraise the spring-catch V, allowing the pads P P to drop upon the topsheet of paper, and as the cranks continue their motion the friction ofthe pads along the finger a upon which it is placed and, under theroller 6, which may be made to revolve by any suitable means, in orderthat the paper may pass this point without liability of tearing, andafter the back edge of the sheet has passed the line of the open griperO, the action of the spur k upon the curved end of the lever J willserve to depress its opposite end, from which connection is made bymeans of the chain or cord j to the arm '5 ofthe weigh ted rocking levere, causing the griper 0 to close upon the finger, and the griper d toopen, thus allowing the paper to be drawn there from without at any timerelieving the under sheet from the pressure of the finger. After thepaper has been thus drawn from the pressure-finger a the gripers aremade to assume their former positions by the downward action of theweight h, the griper at being closed and the griper 0 opened, as clearlyshown in Fig. 5, and so remaining until another sheet shall have beendrawn past the open gripper 0. The hole made in the paper by the fingera should be within two or three inches of the back edge of the sheet, inorder that such finger may be made of moderate length. As the carriage Lmoves down with the paper to meet the gripers of the revolving cylinderB the spurs X X press back the springs Y Y so as to allow the forwardedge of the paper to pass beyond the proper point of register. Then asthe cranks K K pass the center, giving the carriage a motion in theopposite direction, the springs Y Y will follow up such movement to thefull extent of their action, operating against the lower edge of thepaper to force it back to exact register in the direction of that side,the action of the springs bein g arranged to cease at the proper point.As the carriage reaches its lowest point in bringing the paper down tothe gripers the dog T strikes against the stop U, raising the pads P P afew inches from the paper, to be thus held during the return of thecarriage by the spring-catch V. As the carriage continues to move backthe sliding pin m, which has dropped down back of the incline 0, strikessuch incline, causing the guide Z to be moved forward against the edgeof the paper to the extent of the motion imparted by such pin, whichshould be to the proper point of register in that direction. In order toproperly move the sheet sidewise we preferably curve up or raisethe edgesubject to the action of the guide, so that the paper may not have atendency to bend up from the board upon which it is to be moved. Thismay be accomplished either by beveling the face of the guide Z, as shownin section in Fig. 7, the edge of the paper being thus first raisedtothe bottom of the angular groovek, and then forced to its properposition, or by means of any separate attachment operating to raise theedge of the sheet at the proper moment. As the carriage L continues itsmotion the lifting-cam 3 which servesto hold the lever t out of the wayof the paper as it is being brought down to meet the gripers, will beremoved. from under the lever, allowing its heavier end to drop onto thepaper. Now, if two or more sheets of paper have been accidentally drawndown to the gripers the spur 2, below the pin 12, will fail to penetratethem, and the lever t will assume the position shown in Fig. 4, whereits outer end will then be struck by the projecting stud or of thevibrating lever r, the remaining movement of which will be immediatelyexpended in moving the shipper p from the tight to the loose pulley,thus stopping the press. But if only one sheet has been taken down tothe gripers, then the spur 2 will penetrate it to its junction with thepin 0:, and the end of the lever t will pass between the projectingstuds 0" and 1" of the vibrating lever 'r, as shown in Fig. 3, and themachine will continue in operation; and in case no paper whatever hasbeen brought down to the gripers by the action of the pads the spur zand pin '27 will drop into the hole w, causing the outer end of thelever t to be so elevated as to be struck by the projecting stud 1*,thus stopping the machine, as beforedescribed, for two or more sheets.As the carriage is afterward .thrown back to its first position the padsP P are caused to drop upon the paper asbefore. The

lever t is to be raised from the paper, just before it is taken by thegripers of the revolving cylinder, by means of the lifting-arm 1 securedto the rocking shaft m, to which the registeringguides Y Y are alsoattached. Instead of the springs YY, used to move the sheet of paperback to the registering-point, any suitable device, operated by means ofcams or otherwise, may be employed.

Another mode of obtaining an indication for use in the stop-motion of aself-feeding printing-press is shown in Figs. 8 and 9, where the lever tis made a permanent magnet, its outer end being weighted so that it maytend to disengage itself from the armature n, being arranged tomaintainjts position when its face is brought in contact with itsarmature, but dropping away whenever a sheet of paper has beeninterposed. In this case we use the weighted arm 0 hinged to thecarriage L in order to drop the face of the magnet upon its armature assoon as the lifting-cam y has ceased to support it; and in case thereshould be no paper found, the outer end of the lever t will obstruct thevibrating lever r, stopping .the machine; but if there should be a sheetof paper over the armature, then the weight of the outer end of thelever, being greater than the magnetic attraction, it will immediatelyfall away, allowing the vibratin g lever to pass without obstruction.

We secure a sheet of paper, 10, or strips of the same, upon the surfaceof the feed-board C, so as to be under the action of the pads P P, inorder that the lower sheet of the pile may encounter exactly the sameresistance to removal as the sheets which have preceded it, so that nochange of adjustment may be rendered necessary in withdrawing the lowersheets on account of their tendency to slide more easily on a smoothwooden or metallic surface.

We claim as our invention- 1. The combination of the pressure-finger a,bearing-roller b or an equivalent, and gripers c and d, operatingsubstantially as described.

2. The combination of the friction-pads P P, carriage L, spurs X X, andregistering springs Y Y, operating to first draw the sheet beyond theproper point of register to be returned thereto by the reaction of thesprings, substantially as described.

3. .The registering-guide Z, arranged with an inclined or lifting facefor first raising the edge of the sheet andthen forcing it to the properpoint, substantially as described.

4. The combination, with the operative mechanism of a self-feedin gprinting-press, of either the lifting device I or holding device 3 withthe indicating-lever t, vibrating lever r, and shipper p or itsequivalent, operating substantially as, described.

5. The spur 2, used for the purpose of indicating the distinctionbetween one and two sheets by their varying resistance to puncture.

6. The rocking fly 0. operating to strike fair upon the top of theincreasing pile of paper, substantially as described.

SOGRATES SGHOLFIELD. CHARLES E. BAKER.

Witnesses:

J o. H. RICHARDS, W. E. MEAD.

